The Sharks responded to a shakeup in their coaching staff by beating the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday.

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San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier (28) controls the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018.

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski (8) celebrates his goal with San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier (28) against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier (28) celebrates his goal with San Jose Sharks’ Radim Simek (51) an San Jose Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen (20) against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. It was Simek’s first NHL career point with an assist. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Timo Meier (28) controls the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) and Carolina Hurricanes’ Lucas Wallmark (71) hit the ice while fighting for the puck in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen (20) controls the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Brent Burns (88) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Brett Pesce (22) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) keeps an eye on the puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Curtis McElhinney (35) blocks a shot in front of San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) (Hertl did not shoot the puck) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (31) makes a save against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Radim Simek (51) waits for a face-off against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Logan Couture (39) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal (11) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) fights for the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Trevor van Riemsdyk (57) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho (20) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho (20) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Pavelski (8) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) passes the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin (74) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (65) sends the puck towards the goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) tries to get a shot off against Carolina Hurricanes’ Brett Pesce (22) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen (20) fights for the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Brock McGinn (23) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Joe Thornton (19) fights for the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Clark Bishop (64) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson (65) fights for the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Williams (14) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) controls the puck against Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho (20) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Marcus Sorensen (20) takes a shot against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE, CA – DECEMBER 5: San Jose Sharks’ Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates his goal with San Jose Sharks’ Kevin Lebanc (62) against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SAN JOSE — Brenden Dillon called the shakeup in the Sharks coaching staff a “kick in the butt” Wednesday morning.

More than anything, the move to put Steve Spott in charge of the defense, David Barr in control of the forwards and Rob Zettler as the eye in the sky sent the team a message. A shuffle up in the coach’s office is usually the last card management plays before heads start rolling with a trade or someone getting fired. Things are getting urgent after a 1-3-1 road trip last week.

The kick in the butt worked Wednesday night, propelling the Sharks (14-10-5) in the right direction as the team earned its second straight win by beating the Carolina Hurricanes.

“After a road trip like that you’ve got to look in the mirror,” Justin Braun said. “You can’t look at other guys. You’ve got to figure out what you’ve got to do to help the team win.”

Here’s what we learned in the Sharks 5-1 win over the Hurricanes at SAP Center:

1. The Sharks lack the forward depth to absorb a major injury up front.

The Sharks got a taste of just how precarious their forward depth is last week when they were forced to play three games without Timo Meier.

With Meier sidelined by an upper-body injury, Kevin Labanc skated in his place on Logan Couture’s line and it took the punch out of the Sharks forward group. Labanc took two costly penalties against the Toronto Maple Leafs that led to goals and he looked lost in a 6-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators later in the week.

The injury also took Labanc off Joe Thornton’s line, forcing a fourth liner to move up and minor leaguer Lukas Radil to join the lineup.

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The lesson learned here is that the Sharks really can’t afford to lose a top forward because it produces a trickle down effect impacting two or three lines at once.

With Meier back in the lineup Wednesday, everything fell back into place.

“It allows us to slot guys in,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “Our fourth line was very effective tonight and the reason for that is because you can plug Timo in, and you can put three guys (on the fourth line) who know how to play.”

Meier skated with Thornton and Marcus Sorensen, allowing Joe Pavelski to stay with Couture and Tomas Hertl, and for DeBoer to keep the trio of Evander Kane, Antti Suomela and Joonas Donskoi in tact. Labanc jumped onto the fourth line, injecting the bottom unit with a lot of high-end skill.

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The Swiss forward seemed to pick up where he left off, scoring a goal and snagging a pair of assists.

He redirected Radim Simek’s shot at 8:42 of the second, scoring his 14th goal to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead while the Czech defenseman earned his first NHL point. Meier also set up Pavelski’s team-leading 18th goal of the season at 15:02 of the second and kicked the puck over to Sorensen on his garbage-time goal late in the third.

In less than a year, Meier’s gone from being a top prospect to someone the Sharks rely on nightly.

“You try to be a difference-maker,” Meier said. “Obviously, I’ve gained some confidence. I’ve learned a lot over the time I’ve spent here, so all I do is try to focus on what I can do to help the team win.”

2. Labanc responds to fourth line demotion.

Speaking about the depth that Meier’s return brought to the lineup, the fourth line produced one of its better games in recent memory with Labanc skating alongside Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson.

Labanc set up Goodrow’s opening goal at 3:44 of the first and collected a second apple by putting the puck right on the tape of Tomas Hertl’s stick for an easy tap-in goal on a Sharks power play later in the period.

“It just makes me want to play that much better,” Labanc said, referring to his move to the fourth line. “You’re playing against the fourth line on the other team. They might be harder, heavier, whatever, but they probably don’t have as much skill, so there’s going to be opportunity out there.”

DeBoer was pleased with Labanc’s response to the fourth line demotion.

“He didn’t pout about it,” the Sharks coach said. “It’s an opportunity for him to get some mismatches and create some offense in the depth of our lineup. That’s exactly what he did.”

3. Martin Jones gives the Sharks a confidence boost.

DeBoer described the fine line that the Sharks are trying to walk as the team looks to regain its confidence after a nasty road trip. As the Sharks continued to surrender an unhealthy number of odd-man rushes last week, they quit trying to make plays through the neutral zone, causing the even strength offense to dry up.

After the Sharks morning skate Wednesday, he suggested that timely saves would go a long way toward boosting the confidence in the room. After all, the Sharks ranked last in even strength save percentage (89.89 percent) heading into their date with the Hurricanes.

“When you’re walking that line and turning it over but getting critical saves, it doesn’t bother you as much,” DeBoer said.

Jones made those big saves Wednesday, following up his 40-save performance in Montreal Sunday with a 39-save night against the Hurricanes. In doing so, he became the first Sharks goalie since Evgeni Nabokov in 2006 to record back-to-back 39-plus save performances.

He closed the pads on Sebastien Aho after he slipped behind the defense and got a look from the doorstep in the first. Late in the period, he got over to stop Jordan Staal on a two-on-one play, the type of goal the Sharks have surrendered all season. In the second, he made a spectacular save with his left arm to get a piece of Lucas Wallmark’s wide-open shot from the slot.

In total, Jones made 15 saves on high-danger scoring chances (Natural Stat Trick) against the Hurricanes.

“If he keeps that rolling, it’s huge for us,” Braun said. “We gave up a few too many grade-As, but he was there when we needed him.”